Fearless (10 page)

From the opposite end of the table Jordan calls out, ‘It's the closest they can get to Ebony.'

My eyes shoot back to Jerome. ‘Is he right? They're hiding out on the Hawkins' property?'

Jerome nods. ‘We think the dark forces are so attached to Ebony they've taken to living where they can pick up her scent.'

Amber says, ‘Ebony spent a lot of time in those hills, growing up.'

I almost feel sorry for them. The part of them that came from Luca must be what keeps them drawn to her. A plan begins to shape itself. ‘How much damage have they caused since moving there?'

My brothers exchange glances before Jerome shrugs. ‘Not much. Their feeding frenzy appears to have eased, though they're still ravaging some local crops. Why? You have a plan already?'

Shae says, ‘How long will it delay us in retrieving Ebony?'

Nothing is coming before that mission
, I assure her through a closed link.

I stand and thank my brothers for bringing this matter to my attention. ‘But for now the dark forces will remain
where they are.' Turning my attention to the Monsignor, I notice Gabe staring hard at Jerome. ‘Can you keep them on your radar, Lawrence?'

The Monsignor nods. ‘I'll inform the Watchtower immediately.'

To everyone I explain, ‘As soon as we have Ebony home we'll deal with the dark forces. Meanwhile, Uri, set up a team to keep an eye on them. Instruct the team to remain out of sight but to repair any damage they cause.'

‘Will do, my prince,' Uri responds.

By now everyone notices how agitated Gabe has become at me. ‘So that's it?' he says. ‘You're just going to ignore the problem?'

I glare back. ‘That's it for now, Gabe.'

He gives a derisive laugh, slamming his fist down on the table. ‘Are you mocking me, brother?'

‘Why would I do that?'

‘I spent months following the dark forces, cleaning up after it fed, resuscitating sheep and cattle and even a kangaroo. I brought my own soldiers in; at times there were forty of us. And now there are four dark forces and you sit there and tell me you intend to do nothing but have them watched?'

‘Gabe, it's because you did such a good job of observing them and their habits that I believe we can let them remain where they are for a few days more.'

‘Who says you get to make these decisions? You're not a king yet, brother!'

‘Being a king is not a position I covet. May all the stars and planets in this universe align if this be a lie …
brother
.'

In the awkward silence that stretches between us like a rubber band about to snap, I explain. ‘Gabe, I can't spare the time or the manpower to go after these dark forces straight away. We don't know what Luca is doing to Ebony, but I guarantee that every moment she is with him is torture. I have to get her out of there
now
.'

Amber's soft whimpers reach him. He casts a piteous glance at her and finally nods. ‘You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. Ebony comes first.'

10

Ebony

Outside the apartment Luca points to the wall of glass on my left. It's a sea of Skadean citizens as far as I can see. They fill the courtyards below and pack the streets surrounding the palace all the way to the city borders. They sit on rooftops and fences and even hang off poles, striving for a view of the balcony. The square itself is overflowing. Angels with children raised high, standing shoulder to shoulder, spill over the walls and hang out of every building.

‘They can't wait to meet you.'

I choke down a gasp. I don't want him to think I'm overwhelmed by this, or intimidated, or in any way impressed. But my legs are growing heavy, as if I'm walking through viscous cement. I struggle to keep pace with Luca. The effort makes me breathe in large gulps of air as if I've just finished a long run. And suddenly there isn't enough air and I start to tremble.

Stop! Don't let him feel you trembling. Concentrate on one thing, just one thing at a time. What am I doing right this second? OK. I'm walking … on … on … tiles, big square shiny tiles like marble. Luca has my elbow and his grip is forceful, his odour, wafting from him, makes me want to vomit, and run.

Focusing on the moment helps distract my mind, freeing my legs, helping my breathing return to something resembling normal. Most importantly, the one visible aspect, my trembling, settles down.

The apartments between his and my rooms have their double doors wide open. As we pass one, I glimpse lavish furnishings, flashy gold and crystal decor, masterpieces hanging on walls with marble floors and plush rugs. Luca notices my interest. ‘I prefer to keep them vacant, but
occasio
nally an event will draw dignitaries and royalty from outlying provinces that will fill the palace to overflowing. Do you like them?'

Why is he always asking my opinion?

I should probably cut down on my sarcasm but it just seems to occur so naturally when I'm around him. ‘Is there such an event today?'

He stops, and his voice when he speaks is deep and low, with a definite dangerous edge. ‘It would be a mistake to underestimate the event occurring today, Ebony. These apartments are open because they require airing, that's all. Now I've answered your question, you answer mine.'

We start walking again. ‘Well, they're not what I would choose.' At his questioning look, I explain. ‘They're extravagant. It's just not my thing.'

‘We'll see if you still think the same way in a few years.'

‘I don't plan to be here that long.'
Damn, I could bite my tongue off.

‘You're forgetting the sealed gates.'

‘I'm not forgetting anything.'

He slips into my thoughts, prodding, poking and
searching around. I stop and yank my arm from his grasp, shoving him out of my head as I step away. ‘I can walk on my own, thanks.'

He glares at me, but I don't buckle. I try my hardest not to allow him back in. Not touching him makes it easier. He seethes, his eyes flashing to black, and I know then it's only a matter of moments before he forces himself through my barriers and inside my head, filling my mind with darkness, hurting me to teach me a lesson.

A guard steps up. ‘May I be of assistance, my lord?'

The guard's interruption is so timely it makes me wonder if he understood that Luca was about to hurt me.

‘Thank you, Elijah, but all is well here.'

Moving again, we pass another lavish but vacant guest suite. ‘Does anyone other than you live in this palace?'

‘Over a thousand live within these walls. The royal guards sleep on the floor immediately below.'

I file this information for later use.

He indicates the corridor that's behind us now. ‘This level will only ever house you and me. Even our children will sleep elsewhere.'

‘You're going to be such a wonderful father,' I mutter sarcastically.

He laughs. ‘You will like it when the nannies are waking at all hours to feed our hungry babies.'

The thought of babies with Luca makes me nauseous.

Conversation ends anyway as we come to a set of pearly glass doors with gold handles, guarded by another pair of Throne soldiers in their trademark black uniforms. Captain Elijah steps forward and pulls a key from a chain around his
neck. He turns it in a silver lock, and the balcony guards open the doors wide. Sheer white curtains flutter and a hum of excited voices rolls towards me. When the guards spread the curtains aside, the crowds go insane. I'm so tense the muscles in my arms tighten and a tremor runs through them. I stop and shake them loose. Luca waits, then hooks my arm, and feeling my tension he asks, ‘Do the Skadean citizens frighten you?'

‘No. I'm not scared of them.'

‘Of me then?'

I can see some of the crowd over the balcony rail, a mass of enthusiastic faces, bursting with excitement to see their future queen –
me.

But it doesn't change how I feel towards Luca, about what he did and why he brought me here. ‘To get a wife you planned her abduction for a hundred years, you had an infant killed to make human parents loyal to your plan and you maimed and killed countless soldiers, both your own and your enemy's. You used dark magic, bribery, blackmail, had my memories eradicated and used a trick to slink around the universal code of Free Will. And once you got me, you imprisoned me in your world with no way out for a hundred years. And this, King Luca, is the kicker: after all that, you expect me to fall in love with you. I'm not afraid of you. I pity you.'

The crowd can see the doors are open, the curtains pulled aside, and can probably see us standing in the doorway not moving. The cheering drops to a low murmur.

Beside me, Prince Luca breathes deeply, his chest hissing like a rattlesnake. We both know, no matter how much he
wants to punish me right now, neither of us can escape this very public appearance. And in this moment I have the power. I'm going to pay for it later. His anger sears into my bones. But right now I take comfort in knowing I'm not the only one who's going to be doing something they don't feel like and have to smile and wave with false cheer on their face.

Without saying a word, his arm still hooked in mine, he moves the few paces forward to the balcony rail. The crowd goes ballistic. I look out at an ocean of faces. There's a certain look in their expressions that I try to identify. After all, that's my strength – seeing the true soul of people through their eyes.

Luca waves while I still try to comprehend the feeling of the citizens of Skade. It's strange because both dark angels and human souls are carrying the same look, as if they're united for a common cause, and for a moment I wish I were standing down on ground level so I could peer directly into their eyes.

Luca lifts his hands and silences the crowd. ‘Citizens one and all, listen carefully, for today on this balcony stands a young angel who will soon become my wife.'

More cheering erupts, but Luca settles it quickly. ‘And when that day arrives, history will be made and Skade's future assured as we work towards becoming the strongest of all the realms.'

He turns to face me, holds out both arms to present me. ‘Citizens, I give you Princess Ebony, your future queen.'

Clapping and cheering follows.

Luca watches the crowd. He's working out the best
moment to make his move, to give them what they want. In the meantime he waves, casting me glances meant to nudge me into doing the same. As soon as he hears the cheering begin to taper off, he reaches for my hands and moves closer. The crowd's expectations shoot to the sky. Their energy is so palpable it makes the air sizzle.

Luca peers down at me, letting me know that he finally has me where he wants me.

The flutters and spasms gripping my stomach intensify with the first touch of his hand at the small of my back, pulling me in close. He lifts my face with his thumb under my chin and with agonisingly slow movements his head lowers down, down, down, until his mouth touches mine.

The first thing I feel is heat, the heat that always seems to radiate from inside him. Fractionally after this, it's the pressure of his lips, strangely, unexpectedly soft. They brush mine with the unobtrusive feel of lush silk pillows.

But now the heat from his face is like an inferno, smothering me. It takes all my self-control not to shove him away and splash cold water over my head. He increases the pressure and his lips grow firmer and more demanding against my closed mouth.

If Luca deepens this kiss, I will gag. If he pushes my lips apart, I'll … I'll … I'm not sure exactly, but biting his lip comes to mind. So it's just as well for his sake that he doesn't, but his mouth stays on mine for what feels like a very long time, growing firmer and hotter. So hot that blisters form, quickly heal and form again.

It's not that he's a bad kisser. There's gentleness, and that surprises me. He's definitely skilled in the art of seduction,
there's no doubting that, and that scares me more than a little.

But he's not Nathaneal. When Nathaneal kisses me, his tender warmth spreads through my whole body and I want nothing more than to melt into him.

Nathaneal's lips are the
only
ones I want on mine, certainly not his archenemy's.

When Luca finally lifts his mouth off mine, he does it slowly while watching me like a hawk, as if he's seeking the precise moment to pounce. My mouth is tinder dry, and without thinking of consequences, only my basic need, I whip my tongue tip out and moisten my lips.

But this is what Luca is watching for. He swoops back down, his tongue poised between his lips, catching me unawares. The intimacy shocks me and I gasp, shooting my breath around his tongue and into his mouth. Without giving me a chance to inhale much-needed air, he fastens his mouth over mine again, this time taking full advantage of his surprise tactic. He scalds the inside of my mouth with his tongue as he pushes into sensitive areas. I try to pull away, but his hand snakes into my hair, locking my face to his like a prisoner inside a jail cell.

The crowd goes insane, hooting and whistling and cheering wildly, while my stomach rolls over on itself and my head spins with oxygen withdrawal. I try to draw air in through my nose but the state of my nerves doesn't allow me nearly enough.

I'm almost out of air, but I would rather pass out in front of billions of people than draw from
his
lungs. I smack my palms against his shoulders repeatedly, until he finally gets it
and lifts his head.

I gulp in air as if I've been drowning. Luca watches me, his chest rising and falling with his own deep breaths, an unreadable expression on his face.

Meanwhile, the tumultuous applause of the massive crowd seeps into my head. Dazed by the lack of oxygen, I allow Luca to turn me towards them. I grip the balustrade in front of me with both hands.